As part of the Night Visions Festival 2025 in Bexley, this program—supported by Arts Council England—marked Centrepieces Mental Health Arts Charity’s 25th anniversary. It was a local effort designed to tackle the rather difficult seasonal challenges of mental health during the winter months. By using “Light” as both a practical medium and a quiet metaphor, Centrepieces put together a series of community projects that brought together our artists and people from our community to create something meaningful.
The Big Event and Dome Installations
The focal point of the event was a series of three glowing domes situated in Hall Place near The Lodge. These structures were designed to be more than just displays; they were interactive spaces where visitors could contribute to a shared experience of “light.”
The Light We Share (The Grand Mural): This dome housed a significant collective effort. It featured a large-scale mural made up of individual canvases painted by over 40 contributors. Each piece represented what “light” meant to that person individually, but when viewed together, they formed a unified whole.
The Light We Share (The Grand Mural): This dome housed a significant collective effort. It featured a large-scale mural made up of individual canvases painted by over 40 contributors. Each piece represented what “light” meant to that person individually, but when viewed together, they formed a unified whole.
The Shifting Spectrum (The Interactive Sculpture): A bit more hands-on, this dome was home to an evolving neon garden. It featured the giant, UV-reactive flowers created in a workshop under Natalie’s guidance. Throughout the day, guests added their own fluorescent leaves and decorations, allowing the sculpture to shift and grow as more people took part.
The Dual Self Box, A Collaborative Reflection: This dome offered a quieter, more introspective atmosphere. It invited visitors to engage with the complexity of mental health through two subtle activities:
- The Boxes of Thought: Guests were encouraged to jot down both their “light” and “dark” thoughts, placing them into glowing boxes to acknowledge the duality of the human experience.
- Hidden Messages: Using UV paint, people wrote messages that remained invisible to the naked eye, only revealed when illuminated by a special lantern—a gentle metaphor for the hidden depths within us all.
- The Light We Share (The Grand Mural): This dome housed a significant collective effort. It featured a large-scale mural made up of individual canvases painted by over 40 contributors. Each piece represented what “light” meant to that person individually, but when viewed together, they formed a unified whole.
- The Shifting Spectrum (The Interactive Sculpture): A bit more hands-on, this dome was home to an evolving neon garden. It featured the giant, UV-reactive flowers created in a workshop under Natalie’s guidance. Throughout the day, guests added their own fluorescent leaves and decorations, allowing the sculpture to shift and grow as more people took part.
- The Dual Self Box, A Collaborative Reflection: This dome offered a quieter, more introspective atmosphere. It invited visitors to engage with the complexity of mental health through two subtle activities:
- The Boxes of Thought: Guests were encouraged to jot down both their “light” and “dark” thoughts, placing them into glowing boxes to acknowledge the duality of the human experience.
- Hidden Messages: Using UV paint, people wrote messages that remained invisible to the naked eye, only revealed when illuminated by a special lantern—a gentle metaphor for the hidden depths within us all.
The Illumination
A particularly special part of the day was the moment of collective illumination. As dusk settled, there was a shared pause before all the lights were lit simultaneously, bringing the various artworks and sculptures to life at once. It was a simple but quite moving way to see the community’s hard work suddenly glowing against the dark winter evening.
Workshops
A series of workshops were held at both Centrepieces locations, focusing on different media:
- Diya Lams & Glass Pebble Art: Participants put together lamps using everyday glass jars, pebbles, and traditional Diya influences. These pieces explored how light filters through modest materials to create something quite special.
- Charcoal & Shadow Studies: Led by our tutors, these workshops used charcoal to explore the “darkness” and “light”, allowing participants to find form and beauty in monochromatic contrast.
- The Big Panel: This was a collective effort where over 40 contributors painted their own small canvases to show what “light” meant to them personally. When these were all gathered together, they formed a single, rather effective mural—a nice way of showing how individual perspectives can contribute to a bigger picture.
- Lantern Making with Willow Winston: We were honored to have our patron, Willow Winston, lead a wonderful workshop where visitors created beautiful glowing lanterns and intricate decorations to add to our show event.
- Giant Flowers: Participants put together a collection of oversized, fluorescent flowers. These were designed to react to UV light and were later used to decorate one of the event domes, adding a rather bright and cheerful touch to the evening event.
Multimedia Collaboration: “Towards the Light” Music
A significant milestone of the 2025 program was the integration of music and literature.
- Lyricism: The Centrepieces Creative Writing Group authored the lyrics for a song with reflections on resilience.
- Composition: The lyrics were adapted into an original song, “Towards the Light,” composed and interpreted by Cherie Jones.
- Digital Legacy: The track was synchronized with a video retrospective of the project’s artwork, creating a permanent digital archive of the charity’s achievements.